Indian hotel refuses room to solo female traveller

Nupur Saraswat, a spoken word artist, was refused a room in a hotel in Hyderabad in Southern India. Photo / Facebook, Nupur Saraswat

A woman was left stranded in a foreign country when a hotel refused to let her check-in because she was single.

Nupur Saraswat, a spoken word artist, travelled to the city of Hyderabad in Southern India for a performance when she was told by her hotel that "single ladies" were not allowed to stay there.

In an impassioned Facebook post, Ms Saraswat, who lives in Singapore, said she was left stranded by the Hotel Deccan Erragadda even though it had already confirmed her online booking.

So, I am standing outside a hotel in Hyderabad which didn't let me stay because they realized I was a "single lady" even...

Posted by Nupur Saraswat on Friday, 23 June 2017

"Somehow they decided I was safer on the streets than in the hotel. Funny huh, how patriarchy works?" she wrote.

The post, which she encouraged others to share, has now been shared more than 1600 times and 'liked' more than 2800 times on the social network.

"So here's my sincere plea - share this post. Make a scene ... Let them know that women travel solo now and we won't stay indoors 'for the sake of our own safety'," she wrote.

According to the Hotel Deccan Erragadda's policies, "locals and unmarried couples" are also not allowed.

Ms Saraswat booked to stay there through a popular third-party booking website, Goibibo. The hotel-booking site has since apologised for the incident, refunded her booking, and offered her a complimentary stay in a different hotel for the duration of her stay in Hyderabad.

In a blog post, Goibibo said it takes such issues "very seriously" and that it has subsequently delisted the Hotel Deccan Erragadda from its platform pending a thorough investigation.

But in a statement given to Goibibo by the Hotel Deccan Erragadda, it said it is "not against" solo female travellers staying at the hotel. Rather, the policy is in response to police advice about the area not being "right" for single women.

"As per local police interaction we don't give rooms to single woman and unmarried couples [sic]," the statement read.

Ms Saraswat said that when the room was booked, the finer details of the hotel's policy - which clearly state that single women, locals and unmarried couples were not allowed to stay - were not understood. However, she still believes that the policy itself is unacceptable.

#HyderabadSaga Part 2: I want you guys to see what you have done. 1. Goibibo PR team has offered a verbal apology to me...

Posted by Nupur Saraswat on Saturday, 24 June 2017

"But of course, there are also those who have tried to silence this by asking 'why are you making a fuss if it's clearly stated in the policy?'

"Well I am making a fuss because I am not ready to settle. I am not ready to live in the fear of my safety anymore. I am not ready to have an entire system push me around until I 'find a man to travel with'. I AM NOT READY TO BE CHAPERONED," she wrote.